Date: Sat Nov 6 21:55:52 1999
From: lawecon@SWLINK.NET ("Craig J. Bolton")
Subject: Re: Watching Cops.
To: LIBERTARIANS@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
Reply-To: LIBERTARIANS@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Libertarian Students at the University of Arizona)
At 09:25 AM 11/6/99 -0700, you wrote:
>> > Better than just sitting back and complaining.
>> >
>> > Andrew
>> >
>>
>> Really. Well then, please explain to me what you expect to accomplish with
>> the information you obtain, and how a broken head or spending several years
>> of your life making new friends while in state prison is accomplishing
>> anything meaningful.
>>
>
> Because if you are going to force change you have to take
>action. Just as you folks did with your 1e6 marjuania march last year.
>Taking a risk, indeed it is. But if you don't engage the enemy they are
>going to ignore you. Words only go so far into convincing others that there
>is a problem. And they go almost nowhre in getting a problem fixed. Words
>with action, is a more potent combination.
>
> Andrew
Once again, I'm not getting a response to the questions posed. This is
rather like
the situations where I ask Vin et al. to please explain what good it is
going to
do to store up pop guns and pound their chests about revolution when "the
authorities" legally have all sorts of automatic weapons, bombs, hand
grenades,
tear gas, etc. "Blank out," as the Randians wuld say, except in these
situations
it is "blank out" with the addition of "WELL WE'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING [no
matter
how useless and stupid] and if you don't agree with the something I have in
mind
you're a coward or stupid or whatever other derogatory thing I can think of
[any-
thing will do as a substitute for reasoned argument]."
Now let me try it again. What, exactly, are you going to do with the
information
you obtain? There is ample information out there already about how cops frame
"suspects," engage in classical brainwashing techniques during
interrogations as
well as simply lie to the examinee about the results of his confessions, plant
evidence that is not evidence, etc. This is not news. It is well known and
WELL
DOCUMENTED ALREADY, and the reaction of the press is, ah,...... "well, we
can't
go reporting that sort of thing or it would undermine faith in the police" or
"that is just a few rotten apples," etc.
SO I ASK YOU ONCE AGAIN, JUST WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THIS INFORMATION?
Also, I'm rather curious about whether you'v checked with criminal defense
counsel to determine whether such activity isn't itself a felony. I know that
"impeding justice" is a felony, and lying to a federal agent [of any agency]
is a felony, so how about spying on the police?
The point of the above [in case you haven't gotten it after 3 or 4
iterations]
is that machismo is no substitute for rationality or careful planning. You
may think that you're providing a public service by keeping tabs on the cops,
but I assure you that there are a lot of cops, prosecutors and judges that
would disagree, and they're the ones with the guns and the jails.
CJB